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F. D. JORDAN.

GASGENERATOIL,

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31 1916. 1,319,344. Patented Oct. 21,1919.

Villlflllllli UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED D. JORDAN, 0F FARMINGTON, MAINE, ASS IG-NOR TO EPHRAIM R. HACKETT,OF

FARMING-TON, MAINE.

GAS-GENERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed July 31, 1916. Serial No. 112,380.

Farmington, in the county of Franklin and .State of Mame, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Gas-Generators for Internal-CombustionEngines, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to gas generators for internal combustionengines, and particularly. to generators utilizing the heat of theexhaust from the engine for converting kerosene oil into gas.

It has heretofore been proposed to accomplish this by passing thekerosene through a long convoluted coil of pipe in contact with the hotexhaust gases from the engine, but such devices have not provedsuccessful, partly, I believe, on account of the excessive length ofsingle pipe required, partly on account of the tortuous form of the pipenecessitated to bring it within practicable dimensions, and partly onaccount of the fact that While the volume of the kerosene gas increasesby expansion as it progresses through the system the cross-sectionalarea of the coiled pipe does not also increase and the gas is able toexpand only lengthwise of the pipe. But whatever the causes, it has notbeen found practicable with the'devices heretofore used, as far as I amaware,

to supply the gas to the engine adequately to meet the varying demandsof the motor.

With the present invention instead of.

passing the kerosene through a long convoluted single coil in thepresence of the hot exhaust gases, I pass the fuel through one or moregroups of small pipes in parallel, the several groups, where more thanone group is used, being preferably arranged in series and beingpreferably of progressively increasing cross-sectional capacity. Thismakesit possible to secure as great or greater heating surfaces for thegas forming pipes as with a single coil pipe, but accomplishes theresult without convolutions'which tend to impede the fiow'of the gas.'It' also makes it possible to increase the combinedcrosssectional areaof the pipes-to accommodate; their-expanding contents, withoutincreasing thediameter of any individual pipe, which wouldflsacrificeits quick heating "quality.

and by using more than one such groupof pipes .it makes it possible toprogressively '55 increase successive groups of the series incross-sectional capacity. These and other features of the invention willhereinafter be more fully described and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanyingdrawings' which lllustrate one embodiment of theinvention, 'Figure 1 is a plan view of 'a generator containing theinvention attached to an ordinary four-cylinder internal combustionengine;

Fig; 2 is a vertical section partly in eleva-' tion, showing theinterior of the generator; i

Fig. 3' is a horizontal section on line 33 of Fig. 2;

r Fig, 4 is Fig. 2; and

-'I1g. 5 isan enlarged detail in vertical longitudinal section throughthe mixing chamber and the gas delivery nozzle. 7

A represents the casing of an ordinary four-cylinder internal combustionengine having a pair of gas intake ports a, a, each supplying twocylinders, and four exhaust ports 5,32, 6, b, one from each cylinder.

' The outer casing 1 of the generator is sea vertical section on line47- 1: of

cured to the cylinder casing A by a series of bolts 2 passing throughcasing 1 and into the casing A. The casing '1 vis relatively long andslender to fit alongside of the engine casing A, and is provided withaseries of exhaust inlet ports 3, 3, 3, 3, which register with theseveral exhaust ports 6 of the engine'casing, and a pair of outlet ports4:, 4., which register with the gas intake ports a, a, of the engine.The several registering ports are suitably sealed to form gas-tightjoints.

The exhaust inlet ports 3 open into a. heater chamber 5, which extendsthroughout and thence'i'the' gases pass throughpassage 7 alongside ofthe heater chamber to the outlet a A mixing chamber or manifold 10,curved around the two middle ports 3, connects the two ports 4 which arejoined to the intake ports a, a of the engine.

An air intake casing 11, having a springpressed air supply valve 12 anda control valve 13, is secured to the middle part of the mixing chamber10. In operation siic tion from the engine created within the mixingchamber draws in valve 12 acting through duct 15, compressing the spring1% and thereby opening passage 15 to the atmosphere. The passage 16 iscontrolled by valve 13 which is fixed to a rotatable stem 17 journaledin the casing 11.

Kerosene is introduced from a suitable tank or other source of supply(not shown) through the fuel supply pipe 20, which enters the heaterchamber 5 at the same end as the discharge port 8 of the heater chamber.Immediately inside of the outer wall of the casing the kerosene pipebranches or is divided into a plurality of smaller pipes 21 (four beinghere shown) arranged in a group in parallel and spaced apart.sufiiciently to allow free circulation about them of the hot exhaustgases. The pipes'21, which are preferably straight, extend substantiallythe length of the heater chamber along one side near the wall 6 andunite again at the opposite end in a common header 22.

Another group of small pipes 23, similarly arranged in parallel andsuitably spaced apart, extend from header 22 to another common header 24at the end of the heater chamber opposite the header 22. The group ofpipes 23 are preferably larger in number than the group of pipes 21,thus aifording a larger combined cross-sectional area to provide for theincreasing volume of the expanding gasesdue to the heat as the gasesprogress through the system.

The individual pipes of each group are arranged in parallel with eachother, and are preferably also substantiallygeometrically parallel, butthe two groups are in series one with the other. I

From the header 24k a gas delivery pipe 25 leads back to the middle partof the easing and there bends and enters the mixing chamber 10,terminating in a. discharge nozzle 26, over which is a concave caporshell 27 arranged to deflect the gases laterally in either directioninto the mixing chamber 10, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 5.

The kerosene is vaporized or converted into gas during its passagethrough the groups of pipes 21 and 23 by the heat of the exhaust fromthe engine within the heater chamber 5. The gas is mixed with air inchamber 10 and thence delivered through ports 4, at, to the cylinders ofthe engine. The explosive mixture in chamber 10 is also kept hot by theheater chamber 5 and the discharge passage 7, which adjoin and partlyinclose the chamber 10, the discharge passage 7 constituting anauxiliary heating chamber.

To start the engine before the generator has been sufiiciently heated tovaporize the "kerosene, the kerosene supply is cut ofi by a suitablecock (not shown) in pipe 20, preferably located within convenient reachof the operator, and an auxiliary or start ing supply pipe 28 (Fig. 2)which connects with an auxiliary or starting gasolene supply is opened.The gasolene and air mixture is then supplied through mixing chamber 10to the cylinders of the engine, and the engine is run just long enoughon this mixture to warm up the heater chamber 5, whereupon the gasolenesupply is cut 01f and the kerosene supply. is opened through pipe andthe engine will continue to operate on the kerosene gas mixture. I

The gas supply through pipe is controlled by a valve 30 which isrotatedby stem 31. The gas valve 30 and the air control valve 13 may beoperated in unison in any usual or convenient manner by means of leversand. connecting rods *controlled from the operators station andconnected to the valve stems 31 and 17 By having the fuel supply pipeenter the heater chamber 5 at the end where the discharge opening 8 islocated the gas generating pipes 21 and 23 which extend the whole lengthof the chamber and back again are brought into contact with all theheated exhaust gases before the gases escape through outlet pipe 8, thusutilizing the heat to the full extent.

I claim:

1. A gas generator for internal combustion engines comprising acasinghaving a series of exhaust inlet ports adapted for connection to theexhaust ports of the en gine, and outlet ports adapted for connection tothe gas intake ports of the engine, a heater chamber in said casing intowhich said exhaust inlet ports open, and aseparate mixing chamber in thecasing from which said outlet ports open, a fuel'supply pipe enteringthe heater chamber, a gas delivery pipe leading from within the heaterchamber into the mixing chamber, and a plurality of pipes in parallelwithin the heaterchamber connecting the fuel supply pipe and the gasdelivery pipe.

2. "gas generator for an internal com bustion engine comprising anelongate casing adapted to be secured along the side. of an engine, thecasing ha\- ingaheatiug chamber communicating directly with the Hexhaustducts of the engine,,a mixingchamber in the casing, a' fuel ductextendingthrough said heating chamber and leading into said mixingchamber, all of the wall area of the fuel ducts being exposed to theheat in the chamber connnunicating directly With the exhaust ducts ofthe engine, a mixin cham ber in the casing, a branched fuel uctextending longitudinally through said heating chamber and leading intosaid mixing chamber and exposed on all sides to the heat in the heatingchamber, and a mixture delivery duct leading from the mixing chamberthrough the heating chamber to the engine.

4. A gas generator for an internal combustion engine comprising a casingadapted to be secured along the side of an engine, the casing having anelongate heating chamber communicating directly 'With the exhaust ductsof the engine, a branched fuel duct extending longitudinally throughsaid heating chamber, a second branched fuel duct extendinglongitudinally through said heating chamber, the second fuel duct havinga cross-sectional area larger than that of the first fuel duct, andmeans for feeding fuel through the first fuel duct, thence through thesecond fuel duct and thence to the engine.

5. A gas generator for an internal combustion engine comprising a casingadapted to be secured along the side of an engine, the casing having anelongate heating chamber communicating directly With the exhaust ductsof the engine, a branched fuel duct extending longitudinally throughsaid heating chamber, the fuel duct increasing in cross-sectional areaintermediate its ends so that fuel passing therethrough may expand as itis heated, and means for conducting fuel from said fuel duct to theengine.

6. A gas generator for an internal combustion engine comprising a casingadapted to be secured along the side of an engine, the casing having anelongate heating chamber communicatlng directly With the ex- Gopies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing theWashington, D. c."

haust ducts of the engine, a mixing chamber in the casing at one side ofthe heating chamber, a fuel duct extending longitudinally thiioijigh theheating chamber to the mixing chamber, and means for conducting fuelfrom the'fuel duct to the engine.

7. A gas generator for an internal combustion engine comprising a casingadapted to be secured along the side of an engine,

the casing having an elongate heating chamber communicating directlyWith the exhaust ducts of the engine, an auxiliary heating chamberdisposed along one side of the elongate heating chamber, the auxiliaheating chamber communicating With the elongate heating chamber at oneend and having an exhaust outlet at the other end, a mixing chamber insaid casing adjacent the auxiliary heating chamber, a fuel duct passinglongitudinally through the elongate heating chamber and leading into themixing chamber, and a fuel delivery duct leading from the mixing chamberthrough the elongate heating chamber to the engine.

8. A gas generator for an internal com bustion engine comprising acasing adapted to be secured along the side of an engine, the casinghaving an elongate heating chamber communicating directly with theexhaust ducts of the engine, an auxiliary heating chamber disposed alongone side of the elongate heating chamber, the auxiliary heating chambercommunicating With the elongate heating chamber at one end and having anexhaust outlet at the other end, a mixing chamber disposed in anextension of said casing adjacent the auxiliary heating chamber, abranched fuel duct extending longitudinally through the elongate heatingchamber and communicating With the mixing chamber, the fuel ductincreasing in cross-sectional area intermediate its ends, and a mixturedelivery duct leading from the mixing chamber through the heatinchambers to the engine.

igned by me at F armington, Maine, this 28th day of July, 1916.

. FRED D. JORDAN.

Commissioner of Patents,

